Music

Kanye West's 'The Life of Pablo' has been pirated more than half a million times

After Kanye West released his seventh studio album The Life of Pablo exclusively on Tidal, many thought that it would just be a matter of time until he released it on other platforms as well. But West shot that down quickly on Monday: "My album will never never never be on Apple. And it will never be for sale," he tweeted. "You can only get it on Tidal."

Wait.... never?

My album will never never never be on Apple. And it will never be for sale... You can only get it on Tidal.

If that's the case, it seems that people are just going to keep downloading it illegally.

According to file-sharing and copyright website TorrentFreak, "over a half million people" have downloaded pirated copies of the album.

Speaking to the BBC — which also reported that the Recording Industry Association of America has already filed almost 20 takedown requests to Google — TorrentFreak's rep said, "I haven't seen numbers this high before for a music release — not with Adele either."

The album was meant to be exclusively available for streaming on Tidal for seven days. A source tells Mashable that's still the plan so far, and whether or not West decides to make it available elsewhere is up to him. Tidal currently has no free streaming option, and it seems the site isn't planning on having one anytime soon.

Representatives for West and Def Jam did not return Mashable's request for comment.

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